Blood Secrets
by Misha
Summary: When Molly looks at Harry, she remembers everything that went before and the secrets that she will carry to her grave...


Blood Secrets   
By Misha 

Disclaimer- Everything belongs to J.K. Rowling and is not mine, however much I might wish differently. However, I am not making any money off of this, so please do not sue me! 

Author's Notes- This is just a short, odd piece that came to me suddenly and wouldn't go away. Now, I know that some of the details are wrong, but creative license, I played with things to make it fit. I also ignore the end of OotP where Dumbledore explains why he placed Harry with the Durseleys since Petunia was his only blood relative and he'd be safe with her, since that didn't fit my story. I was just thinking about Molly's affection for Harry and wondering if there was a reason for it and this was the result. I make mention of Vinny, a character in my "Friends and Memories" series, as well as "Memories of the Heart", but this doesn't tie in with either the series or with MotH, it just stands alone. I just added Vinny to make things fit, okay? Well, that's all, enjoy. 

Summery- When Molly looks at Harry, she remembers everything that went before and the secrets that she will carry to her grave... 

Rating- PG-13 

Spoilers- All five books, I guess.

* * *

Sometimes Molly watched Harry across the room and thought about all the things that she wanted to tell him, but couldn't. 

Some things were best left in the past. 

But she still thought about them often. She looked at the boy she loved as much as if he were own and thought about how, though she could never say it out loud, he was of her blood. 

She thought often of the events of the past. 

It had all happened a lifetime ago, when Molly was just a child. The youngest of three sisters. Daphne was the eldest, then Cassandra, then herself. There were two years between Daphne and Cassandra and five between herself and Cassandra, so she was young when it all happened. 

She didn't know her sisters that well, at least not when she was really young. She was only four when Daphne went to Hogwarts and six when it was Cassandra's turn. 

Back then, she had only seen her sisters on the holidays. But she loved them both. 

Smart, kind Daphne and headstrong, outgoing Cassandra. Cassandra was her favorite, because she was more fun, but she was also the one who got in trouble more. 

Molly and Cassandra had become really close in the two years that they attended Hogwarts together. Despite the age difference, they become friends as well as sisters. 

Molly remembered how upset her parents had been that Cassandra had been placed in Slytherin, instead of Gryffindor. But they had accepted it, because they loved their daughter. 

Cassandra prospered at Hogwarts, as did Daphne. Daphne was a better student, but Cassandra was more popular and sociable. 

Both had bright futures ahead of them. They graduated from Hogwarts, Daphne in 1954 and Cassandra in 1956, Molly could hardly believe that it had been forty years... 

How time flew by. 

Daphne entered the Ministry, in the Muggle relations department and Cassandra worked in the Magical Research department. 

Cassandra had moved out of home and was living with some friends of her from Hogwarts, much to the disapproval of their father, since the other girls were all in Slytherin House and all came from strong pureblood families. Ones that tended to mix with the dark arts. 

Cassandra started attending parties with her friends and met all kinds of interesting people, as she described to Molly in her frequent letters. 

Around the time that Cassandra graduated from Hogwarts, Daphne met a young man, a Muggle and fell in love with him. His family wasn't prepared to accept a witch into their midst, though, so Daphne made the decision to leave the wizarding world and live as a Muggle. 

Molly's parents had been horrified and cut off all contact with their daughter, but both Cassandra and Molly kept in touch with their sister. 

Molly was in her third year at Hogwarts by this point, a Gryffindor like most of the family. The year passed quickly and she visited Daphne in the summer, though her parents didn't know about it. 

Molly was staying with Cassandra for a few weeks, though her father didn't like the idea, and the two visited their sister frequently that year, the summer of 1957. 

Daphne was with child and in August gave birth to a girl, Petunia. Daphne wasn't sure whether her child would have magic or not, but decided that she would be happy either way. 

Molly entered her fourth year in Hogwarts and kept in touch with Cassandra who wrote frequently about a young man she had met. 

_"His name is Tom, but he rarely goes by that. He prefers a nickname, Voldemort. Isn't that interesting? He graduated from Hogwarts a decade ago and has traveled the world since then. He's only in England for a brief time. Perhaps only a few months,"_ Cassandra had written in that first letter and after that there had been many more letters about Tom. 

Molly's parents didn't like him. Cassandra brought him home for Christmas and their father had made that clear. 

Molly understood why they felt that way, their was darkness in him that frightened her. She could see it in his sharp, knowing green eyes. They disturbed her too. 

But, Cassandra did what she wanted and never listened to anyone else. She kept seeing Tom, becoming deeply involved with him. 

Still, by the summer of 1958, the affair had come to an end. Tom was moving on, leaving England again and not planning on returning for several years. 

He asked Cassandra to come with him, but she refused, knowing she couldn't leave her life and family. Besides, by that point Cassandra had become aware of the darkness in Tom and was frightened by it, so she knew it was best to say goodbye. 

After Tom had vanished into thin air, Cassandra learnt she was pregnant. She had no idea where Tom had gone and no idea to find him, either, the last few months she had spent with him she had seen things in him that scared her more than she would ever admit to anyone but Molly. 

"He has a darkness in him, Molly." She confessed. "So much anger and hatred. It frightened me, I'm glad he's gone." 

Their parents were furious to learn of Cassandra's pregnancy and disowned her. They ahd also forbidden Molly from having contact with her, which she ignored. 

She wrote to her sister frequently and Cassandra often passed on letters from Daphne as well. 

In March of 1959, Molly was in her fifth year at Hogwarts when the news came. She had been brought to Professor Dumbledore's office, he had been named Headmaster only a few years before, and he told her that her sister had gone into labor and that the prognosis wasn't good. 

Cassandra's roommate had contacted Dumbledore over floo so that he could tell Molly. Cassandra was asking for her. 

"You must go to her." He told her. 

"But my parents!" Molly had protested. 

Dumbledore had looked grave. "What they don't know what hurt them. I dislike lies, but sometimes they can't be helped." 

He arranged for her to go to Hogsmede and from there floo to St. Mungoes. When Molly got there, she saw Daphne waiting for her, Daphne had apparated as soon as she had gotten the news. 

Cassandra's labor was going badly. 

Molly, Daphne and Cassandra's roommate spent the entire night pacing the floor, waiting for news. Finally the medi-witch came out with a solemn expression and explained that the child was a girl and that she was fine, but that Cassandra was gone. There had been nothing they could to save her. 

Molly had fallen to her knees in tears, while Daphne took the news more stoically. She then went to contact their parents, who weren't receptive to the news. They refused to have anything to do with Cassandra's daughter. 

Molly was disgusted by their reaction, especially when she saw the child for the first time. She was beautiful with her mother's red hair and her father's green eyes. 

Since no one knew where Tom was and Molly remembered that Cassandra hadn't wanted him near her child and their parents refused to acknowledge their granddaughter, Daphne decided to take her in and raise her as her own. 

So, Daphne and her husband Edward took the baby in and named her Lily. They moved from the small-town and passed Lily off as their own, never telling anyone she was adopted. Edward's parents were dead by this point. 

Daphne cut all ties with Molly soon after Lily's birth, preferring to raise the two girls away from the world of her birth. Molly knew her sister was terrified of Tom coming back and learning he had a child. That Daphne wanted to raise her children as normal Muggles and never let anyone know differently. 

It hurt, to lose contact with her remaining sister, but Molly knew that Daphne did what she had to do. 

Molly graduated from school and married Arthur, she quickly had Bill and Charlie. 

Then, after several years had passed, when Bill was three and Charlie two, Molly received an owl from Daphne telling her that Lily had gotten her letter and was going to Hogwarts. 

_"Petunia never showed any signs and she's thirteen now, so it appears that she's a Muggle, but Lily... Well, I suppose she had a better chance, after all Pet is half and half, while Lily is a pureblood. Anyway, I have to let her go, it has to be her choice whether or not to embrace the world. But she'll be going as Lily Evans, a muggleborn witch, no one will ever know the truth of her heritage. It's best for her. I just thought I should warn you. Also, Molly, I am sorry."_

Daphne's words lingered in Molly's head for years. 

She knew her sister was right, at that time there were rumors of a dark power, of the first dark lord since Grindewald had been defeated a quarter of a century earlier. They said his name was Voldemort, but even in the fall of 1970, when the terror had just begun, people were wary of saying his name. 

Molly remembered Cassandra's letters of a decade earlier, _"he prefers to call himself Voldemort"._

Was it possible? Could Cassandra's Tom be this monster that was causing fear in everyone? 

Molly remembered the darkness she had sensed in him and how afraid Cassandra had been at the end and knew that it was. 

She knew that he could never know about Lily. About his daughter. It really was best for Lily for everyone to pretend that she was muggleborn, that all the lies she had been told were the truth. 

Molly almost crumbled the first time she saw her niece. Arthur's baby sister, Vinny, was in her year at school and the girls were fast friends. Vinny brought her home one summer and introduced her to all her family. 

The first time Molly set eyes on her, she knew her without ever hearing her name. It was like seeing Cassandra again. The same face, the same red locks, darker than Molly's own, the same bearing. 

Only the eyes were different, Cassandra's had been blue, while Lily's were a sharp, unforgettable green. She had her father's eyes. 

The years passed and Molly watched her sister's daughter, wishing she could tell her truth, yet respecting Daphne's wishes and knowing it was for the best. 

She watched as Lily grew into a strong young woman that Cassandra would have been so proud of. Molly was so proud that her niece was Head Girl her last year and head of her class. She also scored very high on her NEWTs. 

She was everything Cassandra would have wanted her to be. Molly's vow of silence was hard to keep at times, especially when Daphne and Edward were both killed, for being 'Muggles' with a high-profile daughter. 

Molly hated that she couldn't even cry for her sister. But she couldn't, for Lily's sake. Still, she mourned the fact that she was the last. Her parents were long dead by then, good riddance Molly thought, never forgiving them for turning their backs on her sisters. 

The only other member of her family left was her niece. The niece she could never acknowledge, but who's life she watched carefully. 

Well, actually there were two nieces, but Molly hadn't seen Petunia since she was a baby and didn't feel the same attachment that she did to Lily. 

So it was Lily who's life she watched so carefully. Lily grew up, found a nice boy from a good wizarding family and joined the Ministry of Magic as a researcher. 

Molly knew she had also joined the Order of the Phoenix. 

Molly and Arthur, stayed out of it. At least publicly, Arthur helped from behind the scenes as much as he could. 

Vinny was a member, for all the good that it did her. She was murdered. One of many who lost their lives. 

After Vinny's death, Molly didn't see much of Lily, after all the bond that held them together, at least in the eyes of the world, was gone. 

But she heard things. Knew that Lily married James Potter and then heard soon after that she was expecting a child. 

Molly also heard that Lily gave birth to a son, only a few months after Molly gave birth to her sixth son, Ron. She laughed at the thought of her and her niece having children the same age. It was interesting. 

Molly never saw the boy, only heard snatches about Lily, until Halloween 1981. 

Then the news came. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, defeated at long last. Lily and James Potter were dead, but their son lived. Somehow little Harry Potter had defeated the Dark Lord. 

Molly felt relief, but also terrible grief. 

Lily was dead. Cassandra's child, all she had left of her sister, was gone. Murdered by her father, though neither of them ever knew it. 

For ten years, Molly wondered about the fate of her great-nephew, knowing that the child had been sent to Petunia, to Daphne's daughter. 

Not Lily's sister, but her cousin. Though, Petunia didn't know that. 

Then, on the day that she and Arthur brought Ron to Platform 9 3/4 for the first time, Molly saw him for the first time. Lily's son. 

He and Ron became friends and he became part of her family. Almost another child. 

She suspected he was mistreated and hated her niece for it. Odd, she rarely thought of Petunia as her niece, though she always thought of Lily as such. 

Molly nurtured Lily's child, Cassandra's grandchild, trying to recapture a part of what she had lost. 

But she also loved the boy for himself, would have loved him even if he hadn't been of her blood. Harry was a very easy boy to love. 

Molly wanted to protect him, to keep him safe, though she knew that was impossible. He was who he was and Molly was afraid that like his mother and grandmother, she would lose him too. 

She watched him and saw that he was the image of his father, with his mother's eyes. 

But she saw more than that, yes he looked like James Potter, but there were similarities to another young man as well. To his grandfather, not that anyone would ever see it. 

There were few who remembered Tom and he had changed so much over the years that those who did would never make the connection. So, no one thought of Harry as looking like anyone other than James, which was for the best. 

The truth was too strange, too painful. Who would guess that The Boy Who Lived was Voldemort's grandson? 

Molly knew it would tear Harry apart and he already had too much on his thin shoulders. 

So she kept it to herself. Only she, and she suspected, Dumbledore, knew the whole truth and she knew it had to stay that way. 

So she could never acknowledge Harry as her blood. 

Instead she did the next best thing and made him an honorary member of her family. God knew he needed all the love and affection he could, it didn't appear he got it from his 'family'. 

Molly wondered how any daughter of Daphne's could be like, but then remembered that she didn't know Petunia and that her memories of her sister were over thirty years old. 

She had no idea what had gone on in the Evans household and wasn't likely to. 

All she could do was love Harry and she did. Sometimes she even forgot that he wasn't her son. 

But, it wasn't often, because looking at him she remembered the past and the secrets that were hers alone. 

It was better that way. 

The End 


End file.
